SUPER GAS

The 9.90 competition was won by first-time finalist and Calgary, Alberta, racer Reg Wilson and his 1954 Ford. Wilson didn’t back into the win, as he had to eliminate multi-time national event and former NHRA Super Gas World Champ Mike Ferderer, who also just happens to be the reigning Division 6 Super Gas champion. Wilson treed Ferderer with a .009 RT that covered Ferderer's .015, which at most races would have been enough to win. Wilson needed the starting line advantage as Ferderer had a closer-to-the-index 9.913 to Wilson’s 9.917.

Wilson got to the stripe first and won by just two-thousandths of a second. That put Wilson into the final round against second-generation racer Justin Lamb. Red lights were abundant in competition as both of Wilson opponents in the semi and the final round “bulbed” against him.

SUPER STREET

Darrel Saxby, driving his '66 Chevelle, was another double-breakout winner in the Sportsman classes when he beat Bob Sims in the Super Street final for his first career national win. In the final, Saxby and Sims left the tree in unison with identical .013 RT’s. Saxby got the win light by running a 10.868 on the 10.90 index while in the other lane Sims held the pedal down and lit the boards with a 10.845.

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER

Despite short fields both the TAD and TAFC fields were competitive. TAD racer Chris Demke qualified his blown entry at the top of the 12-car field with a 5.322/270.10, and Shawn Cowie followed in the second spot with Mark Niver’s injected nitro entry in the No. 3 position.

Courtney Force lost her match with Mike Austin when a right rear tire exploded near the 1,000-foot block. A large portion of the rear wing was torn from her car in the blow-out, but Force deployed the parachutes efficiently and displayed the driving skills of a pro as she effectively fought to keep the back-and-forth careening car in her lane.

Demke singled for the win.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR

The Top Alcohol Funny Car field was led by Doug Gordon, who made a 5.624 on his last qualifying pass to get the pole position and a first-round bye run. After getting past John Evanchuk in the second round, Gordon's run came to an end in the semi’s when Division 7 rival Sean O'Bannon powered past him to cross the finish line first. O'Bannon was behind early when Gordon guessed on the tree and was rewarded with a stellar but lucky .006 RT, but his car didn’t have the steam to hold off O’Bannon who drove by using a 5.619 to cover Gordon’s 5.737.

In the final round, O'Bannon was pared with second-generation driver Steve Gasparrelli. Gasparrelli left first but O'Bannon pulled even at the 660-foot timer and then drove away from Gasparrelli with a 5.581 to 5.655 decision.

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